UFC champ Jose Aldo: Anthony Pettis talks a lot, but runs when it's time to fight

UFC champ Jose Aldo: Anthony Pettis talks a lot, but runs when it's time to fight

NATAL, Brazil – With Anthony Pettis signed up to fight Gilbert Melendez later this year, UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo says his long-discussed move to lightweight has been put on hold. And that previously scheduled fight with Pettis? Aldo is beginning to doubt it will ever happen.

“Anthony Pettis talks a lot,” Aldo on Thursday told MMAjunkie through an intepreter. “He goes to the media and says that he’ll fight me in any division, but then he knows that (UFC President) Dana (White) is not going to have him move down a weight because they want me to give up my belt. Also, I think he’s going to lose to Melendez, so then he’s going to have to move back a little bit, and our time to fight will have gone by.”

Aldo (24-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), the UFC’s first and, to date, only featherweight champion is a perfect 14-0 in combined bouts under the UFC and WEC banners. At 27 years old, his frame has grown naturally larger over the years, and he’s long discussed a potential move up to 155 pounds.

The bout with Pettis (17-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) was originally scheduled to take place this past August, with Pettis dropping to 145 pounds to fight for Aldo’s belt. However, “Showtime” withdrew from the bout, citing a knee injury. Four weeks after that UFC 163 fight was to take place, Pettis instead fought Benson Henderson at UFC 164, earning the promotion’s lightweight title in the process.

Aldo returned to action at February’s UFC 169 event, dispatching of Ricardo Lamas in the sixth consecutive defense of his featherweight belt. Afterward, he again offered to fight Pettis, but that plan was soured when the lightweight champ signed on to coach opposite Melendez on “The Ultimate Fighter 20,” as the two will fight following the series.

Aldo said he wasn’t shocked that Pettis went in a different direction, but he’s getting annoyed at his lack of commitment to the long-rumored superfight.

“I wasn’t that surprised because the UFC had told me that Pettis would take a while to come back and that with his knee, we didn’t really know when he was going to fight,” Aldo said. “I was prepared for that possibility. Now I’m going to have to weight for ‘TUF’ and see what happens.

“Pettis likes to talk a lot, but he does very little. So for right now, the plan is for me to stay at 145 pounds and defend the belt because obviously Pettis is going to be on ‘TUF.’ He’ll have all that time while he’s shooting the show, and he already has a fight scheduled with Melendez, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

“It was between Cub and Chad, and I already knew that, but they scheduled the fight for Cub. But for me, it doesn’t matter. I fought Chad before, and he’s as good of a competitor as any. I’ve also fought Cub, so for me it’s the same. Both of them earned it. Chad made it back to the top, so he deserves it.”

Aldo didn’t speculate on a date for the likely matchup but did say he’s willing to fight anywhere in the world and whenever the UFC needs him.

“I’m already training, and I’m already thinking about the fight, so it’s up to my trainer, [Andre Pederneiras],” Aldo said. “Whenever they decide to put on the fight, I’ll do it.”

And that fight with Pettis? Well, Aldo is still willing to sign the contract. He’s just tired of Pettis not doing the same.

“Anthony Pettis talks a lot to people, but when it comes time to actually make the fight happen, he runs,” Aldo said.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.